2016 Q4 Greater Los Angeles Central Office Knowledge Report

Author: Chris Wong

Date Published:
01/14/2017

Market Records Strong Demand To End 2016

The Central Los Angeles market saw robust demand activity during fourth quarter with vacancy decreasing by 230 basis points from last quarter and absorption closing at 551,800 SF for the year. There is currently 610,400 SF of office product under construction along with 790,500 SF of additional proposed product. This additional new inventory will bode well for the Hollywood market, opening options for tenants seeking new product in a preferred high-image location.

Media and tech companies continued to see the Hollywood submarket as an attractive offering of high-image new Class A inventory and abundant production facilities. While demand from strong leasing activity in 2015 and 2016 has finally started to manifest, rents have seen some flattening, registering an average increase of 0.8% in the last 3 quarters.

Key Takeaways:

There is currently 610,400 square feet (SF) of office product under construction and 790,500 SF of expected proposed construction in the Hollywood submarket. .

The average rent for Class A buildings in Central Los Angeles is $3.35 per square foot (PSF) Full Service Gross (FSG), an 8.6% increase year-over-year.

Leasing activity fell from last quarter's 289,700 total to record 99,300 SF of velocity.

Investment activity finished the year with some momentum as one office property more than 25,000 SF traded hands in the market.

Outlook:

The Hollywood submarket will continue to see strong demand for space from entertainment, media and technology firms as pre-leased properties are delivered to the market. With the surrounding submarkets mostly built-out and creative tenants passing on the burgeoning, but not fully-realized Downtown Los Angeles creative market, Hollywood has the opportunity to attract tenants desiring quality space at a lower price-point than the Silicon Beach cluster. That window, however, is closing due to the ascent of Hollywood rents, concurrent with a robust pre-leasing environment. With fewer large block options currently available and a current focus on medium sized opportunities, the market will look to its proposed construction pipeline in 2017 to continue fulfilling demand for high quality creative and headquarters spaces.